1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system in which one of two interengaged components is adapted to be displaced with respect to the other component in one direction and then in another direction.
2. Description of Pertinent Information
Many systems exist in which two components are adapted to engage and disengage each other by displacing the components in a first direction and then in a second direction with respect to each other. In these systems it is often useful, necessary, or even essential that displacement in the second direction to disengage the components be permitted to take place only if one of the components has been displaced in the first direction to the maximum extent possible to engage the two components. This requirement may arise from the necessity to reset a spring, to operate a counter, or more often to restore at least one movable element to a position which enables it to perform its function during the following displacement in the second direction and to prevent any risk of damage to the moveable element.
This is the case in the electrical current supply connectors described in French Pat. No. 2,531,577, its first Certificate of Addition No. 85.04198, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,819, and U.S. Ser. No. 732,294, as well as the current supply connector described in European Pat. No. 106,931 owned by Applicant and U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,610, all of the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference thereto. In these connecting devices any return of the plug or plug socket to a closed position while the separation of the components is in progress would not only result in damage to the pivoting members which support the movable contacts, but would also likely initiate an electric arc between the pivoting members and the stationary contacts which would be particularly hazardous in a flammable or explosuve environment.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method for preventing the displacement in the second direction of a moveable element during the separation of the components.